Battleborn Winter Update

The Battleborn Winter Update is here! All new features and improvements roll out today across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. From training modes to Command Rank increases, there’s something for everyone in this update. In the words of Gearbox Software Producer, Chris Brock, “I’ve been at Gearbox for 10 years and this is the craziest update we’ve ever done!” Let’s take a closer look at what’s coming:

Since Battleborn launched in May, we have worked hard to bring you new features, characters, modes, and regular updates, some of which are a direct result of the community’s feedback. Although requested features, like training modes, are just now being implemented, they have long been a part of Battleborn’s plans and took time to develop. These features are an integral part of the new Battleborn player experience and characteristic of Gearbox Software’s genre-bending ingenuity. Battleborn is the most ambitious game ever for Gearbox, incorporating inspiration from a legacy of science fiction and fantasy, cartoons, comics, movies, and video games.

Here at Gearbox Software and 2K Games, we are committed to improving Battleborn and creating the best player experience possible through ongoing updates. Like you, we are passionate about Battleborn and dedicated to our community. We are excited to bring you these new features and can’t wait to share even more upcoming content!

UPDATE DETAILS

WHEN: The update begins rolling out at 2pm PT/ 5pm ET on Thursday, January 19, 2017

PlayStation 4: 13GB

Xbox One: 18GB

PC: 15GB

BEATRIX EARLY ACCESS

Early access to the 30th Battleborn hero begins today! Precise, deadly, and obsessively hygienic, Beatrix wields a massive syringe arm to spread debilitating debuffs and disease. A master at manipulating life, her prowess for science combined with her Jennerit ruthlessness makes her one extremely qualified, and EXTREMELY DANGEROUS physician.

Beatrix Early Access: January 19 starting at 2pm PT/5pm ET for all regions

Beatrix Official Release: January 26 starting at 2pm PT/5pmET for all regions

DLC STORY OPERATION 3

Be advised: Battle School is not for chumps! Fall in line with the Battleborn as Oscar Mike takes you through the ringer in the third Story Operation, “Oscar Mike vs The Battle School.” Dodge death, complete objectives, and fight your way through rigorous combat.

Harness Beatrix’s power and join Battle School today with the Season Pass! Learn more about this dangerous physician and the newest DLC Story Operation here.

NEW PLAYER EXPERIENCE

We’ve added several new features to help new players learn the ropes in Battleborn.

All 25 Core Characters Unlocked!

That’s right, 25 badass playable characters, no waiting! With this update, the core 25 characters will be unlocked for all players after completing the Prologue. Learn more about unlocking characters and character select changes in this post.

What about the character unlock challenges? The unlock challenges now award a brand new champion skin upon completion! If you’ve already completed any of the challenges, just jump into a match or mission where that challenge could be completed (Ex. Galilea’s kill 800 minions – complete any match), and you’ll be credited with the corresponding skin upon completing the match or mission.

What if I unlocked a core character with a Hero Key? Don’t fret, you’ll get that Hero Key back! Any Hero key used to unlock one of the 25 core characters will be automatically returned. You can now reuse this key to unlock any of the newest characters 26 – 29, or the 30th character on release.

Story Mode Enhancements

Story Mode missions will have more guides and tools to lead you through various areas of the game. The Credit rewards have also been boosted to help you get an early edge on loot packs.

Two New Training Modes

Build up your skills before hitting the battlefield in two new training modes: Incursion Tutorial and the Dojo!

Incursion Tutorial: Hone your PVP skills and learn the key elements of competitive play in Battleborn. Your first play-through is solo, but this practice mode can be repeated with groups of up to three players.

Dojo: Take each and every Battleborn hero for a test drive! Learn how to slice, dice, blast, smash, and rocket your way through waves of minions.

Whether you’re coming back for the second time or your two hundredth, we want to keep making the Battleborn experience fresh and exciting. Listening closely to your feedback, we made some big changes to vastly improve your experience.

User Interface Overhaul

Battleborn’s user interface has a whole new look! It is now cleaner, more vibrant, and much easier to find the information you need most. There are UI changes throughout Battleborn, from the starting screen, to the Command center, character select, and even in the menu system. Learn more about the revamped UI here.

Draft Mode

This is one of the most exciting new additions! On top of a whole new character select experience, Battleborn will also offer pick/ban drafting in public and private matches. Players and teams can now take turns picking and banning characters to create an excellent competitive roster based on what the other team is choosing.

Normal Draft: Normal draft mode will be available in both public and private matches, allowing each team to take turns voting for their banned characters and creating their roster.

Captain’s Draft: Private matches have an additional draft mode called Captain’s Draft. In these private matches, each team has a captain, so choose wisely! Not only will the captain be directing the team in battle, they also have final say over which characters their team will ban.

Introducing Quests

New challenges await with the quest system in Battleborn! Players can now take on new objectives through Main and Daily Quests for a variety of different rewards. Take a look at the new daily quest system here.

Main Quests: Main quests lets you explore different aspects of the modes and missions in Battleborn.

Daily Quests: Unlock a new quest every day! The reward varies depending on the difficulty of the quest, with the hardest quests also having the biggest rewards.

Command Rank and Character Rank Increase

Are you the best of the best of the best? Climb the ranks in Battleborn with higher level caps for Command Rank and Character Rank! We pushed the cap to 150 for Command Rank, and rank 20 for each character. Don’t be fooled, this won’t be a cakewalk, but you will get all-new, all- awesome rewards along the way! Learn more about the increase in Command and Character ranks in this post.

Updated In-game Economy

The in-game economy has gotten an overhaul as well. All loot pack variations will still drop in Story Mode missions, but only one type of loot pack will be available in the Marketplace: The Core Pack. The Core Pack has better odds for higher rarity gear and has a chance to drop any skin or taunt previously available in Faction packs. Credits will now accumulate faster in public PVP matches, making it easier to grab more Core Packs from the Marketplace. You will also see a bigger variety of Boosts available for Platinum in the Marketplace. For an in-depth look at the changes, head here.

Performance Enhancements & PS4 Pro Support

Like many of you, we are technophiles who love to support new hardware and technology when it benefits our players. With this update, you will experience performance enhancements across the board. Every map, mission, and mode has been touched-up to improve optimization for all platforms, with a particular focus on PS4 Pro’s native 4K capabilities. On PS4 Pro, Battleborn can now run at 1080p at 30fps, 1080p at up to 60fps, or in gorgeous NATIVE 4K at 30fps. Needless to say, this update is an absolute game changer.

The performance and visual improvements don’t end there. PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox One S players now have the option to run Battleborn at 1080p and up to 60fps. PC players do not have the same fps caps as console, but they will experience framerate increases throughout Battleborn.

The Winter Update begins rolling out on all platforms starting at today, January 19, at 2pm PT (5pm ET). This is a massive update but it’s not all Battleborn has in store. Keep reading to see everything that’s already come to Battleborn.

RECAP: WHAT’S COME TO BATTLEBORN SINCE LAUNCH?

Since Battleborn launched back in May, we’ve been cranking out new content. So far we’ve released new heroes, more PVP maps, in-game events, and all sorts of hot fixes and adjustments. Below is a quick recap of what’s already been released:

Five FREE new heroes – Alani, Pendles, Ernest, and Kid Ultra are already here and Beatrix early access begins today! That brings the total to 30 playable heroes for everyone who bought Battleborn.

Three DLC Story Operations – “Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion” and “Toby’s Friendship Raid” are out now, “Oscar Mike vs The Battle School” releases today, and two more on the way!

TONS of skins and taunts are now available for Platinum in the Battleborn Marketplace, including a brand new set releasing today: Medieval skins.

JOIN THE FIGHT TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE!

If you already own Battleborn, snag the Season Pass to get access to the first three DLC Story Operations today, “Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion,” “Toby’s Friendship Raid,” and “Oscar Mike vs The Battle School,” as well as the next two Story Operations upon release.

New to Battleborn? Dive in with the Battleborn Digital Deluxe edition to get access to “Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion,” “Toby’s Friendship Raid,” “Oscar Mike vs The Battle School,” the next two Story Operations, hero keys to unlock Battleborn 26 – 30, and of course the base game and all of the FREE content available to everyone who owns Battleborn.